Seeing Verity cry had never been easy on Oliver, particularly when he was the one to blame. Freeing his hand from Verity's Oliver wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her carefully against his chest, soothing back her hair and comforting her the best he knew how. His mother had told him once that the best thing a man could do for a crying girl was to let her cry, to get it all out of her system. Words could come later, physical comfort and release were more important sometimes.